Spikes Excitement Talk #126 with Mark Grether
Description
In this episode, Gordon speaks with Mark Grether — one of the rare leaders who has built billion-dollar advertising businesses at Amazon, Uber, and now PayPal. Mark shares the story behind selling Seismic to Amazon as their first-ever advertising acquisition, how he helped turn Uber profitable through ads, and why PayPal’s transaction graph may be one of the most powerful data assets in the industry.
He explains how PayPal Ads is being built from the ground up and how innovations like storefront ads let people buy products directly inside any publisher environment — without ever leaving the page.
Along the way, Mark reflects on the people and principles that shaped his career, from German media pioneers to Amazon’s leadership culture. And we end on the big one: what excites him about the future of advertising in the age of AI.
Tune in for a conversation about data, identity, commerce, and the next wave of advertising innovation.
United States
